Star Wars creator George Lucas may have had a tough time getting Hollywood interested in a movie about the Tuskegee Airmen, but he has the attention of President Barack Obama.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama planned to screen Lucas’ film, “Red Tails,” Friday at the White House, ahead of the movie’s Jan. 20 release in theaters.

Lucas, a few cast members and some original Tuskegee Airmen were expected to be among the Obamas’ guests, said Trent Dudley, president of the Washington, D.C., Tuskegee Airmen chapter.

Dudley, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, called the White House screening “a tremendous recognition of all the contributions the airmen made not only in World War II but the fight against racism.”